N.E. Miles Jewish Day School participates in McWane Center's Celebrate Science Competition

N.E. Miles Jewish Day School earned first place in McWane Center’s Celebrate Science Competition.

The N.E. Miles Jewish Day School was one of 11 local schools to participate in the McWane Center’s Celebrate Science Competition, and the students' "Brilliant Buoyancy" exhibit prototype earned first place. Their prototype will be on display at the McWane Center, and the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School earned $1,500 in prize money.

To kick off the program, the fourth and fifth grade students visited the McWane Center early in the year to learn what makes a successful exhibit. After their visit to McWane, students began to brainstorm their own exhibit concepts. As a class, students came up with three different ideas — buoyancy, sound vibrations and lightning. Students then created display boards for each concept.

Elizabeth Gargus, a McWane education specialist, visited the school to hear about the three ideas. In groups, students presented the ideas one by one, and Gargus gave feedback about their research, design and more. In her feedback, she emphasized the teamwork aspect of scientific research. Students then set up all three displays for Grandparent and VIP Visit Day and took notes about which exhibit drew the most attention. Students then narrowed in on “Brilliant Buoyancy” and began constructing their final prototype.

For the final “Brilliant Buoyancy” prototype students used recycled materials found around the school and worked together to create the ideal design. They had to solve problems that they encountered during the initial display, such as how to retrieve marbles from the water and how to get air in the water bottle submarines. Rather than use water in the final model, the teams took pictures of the activities, then used their creativity to make a final model of the exhibit. They used water bottles, a plastic aquarium, blue felt and yarn, and blue beads to represent the water. A challenge for the students was to explain the activities using engaging diagrams and as few words as possible.

Each student had a critical role in this process, and the school community is so impressed by the students' problem solving, creativity and teamwork.